The EU is supposed not to like freeports, but Irish Rail (IE) wants Rosslare Europort to emulate Shannon Freezone and busness park. At the moment Rosslare has ferry connections to the UK (Fishguard, Pembroke Dock), France (Cherbourg, Roscoff) and Spain (Bilbao) and there was pre-CV19 talk of a new link with Le Havre. Now new services and shipping categories will be coming.

IE, with the backing of Wexford County Council, wants the freezone to develop around the offshore wind industry, with the promise of thousands of jobs. Around €30M will be invested by IE over the next five years. This could challenge the proposed Tees Valley free zone pivoting around offshore wind and energy transition.

On the strength of the announcement, Dutch-based logistics company XELLZ has secured a further 100,000 m2 of space within the future free zone, to add to the 20-ha it obtained earlier this year. XELLZ has divided the land into zones and the entire area will be known as Rosslare Europort Business Park (EBP). Through its offshore services subsidiary 24shore and XELLZ Ireland, the company will establish an offshore wind supply base there to serve and support future offshore wind farms.

Phonsey Croke, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) of 24shore Ireland, said: “This gives companies who locate in the Rosslare Europort Business Park Free Zone (EBP-FZ) the ability to operate and install offshore wind farms in a cost-effective and competitive manner. There are many OWFs to be installed and operated in Ireland, UK, and across the continent and having a Free Zone will help ease the flow of goods and keep projects moving.”

Through its offshore services subsidiary 24shore SBS (Supply Base Services) and XELLZ Ireland, XELLZ will establish an offshore wind supply base to serve and support future offshore wind farms, bringing new energy to the region. 

The EBP offers ample storage and assembly areas to manage the wind turbines, transition pieces and mobilisation equipment. There will be areas for companies providing maintenance, operational, and repair services to this budding renewable energy market. The space will also house a new training facility for the renewable industry.

Finbarr Cleary, CEO of XELLZ Ireland Ltd. Said: “We are committed to making the Rosslare development a national success story.  The support we have received from the wider community, industry associations, local and national government and independent agencies has been really encouraging. The South-East of Ireland is set to become an area of international commercial activity as well as an Operations & Maintenance Centre of Excellence for many industries.”